Michael foley



(No Model.)

M FOLEY TYPE WRITER CABINET.

Patented Sept. 21,1897.

Inverzzar 357 W & fizz? my 1': Mars vnzs s c0. we

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MICHAEL FOLEY, OF HERKIMER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE STANDARD FURNITURE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

TYPE-WRITER CABINET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent no. 590,540, dated September 21, 1897.

Application filed April 28, 1897. Serial No. 634,261. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it" may concern.-

Be it known that I, MIcHAEL FOLEY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Herkimer, in the county of Herkimer and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Type-NVriter Cabinets; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to that class of cabinets for type-writers which embody a swinging shelf for supporting the machine, a lid, and levers and links for raising and lowering the swinging shelf by the act of opening and closing the lid; and its novelty and advantages will be fully understood from the following description and claims when taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, in which- Figure l is a perspective sectional view of a portion of a type-writer cabinet embodying my invention with the lid open and the shelf and other parts in the positions they assume when the lid is opened. Fig. 2 is a transverse section with the lid closed and the other parts in the positions they assume when the lid is closed; and Figs. 3 and 4 are detail sections taken in the plane indicated by the dotted lines 00 w and y g, respectively, of Fig. 2.

Referring by letter to the said drawings, A indicates the side wall of a cabinet which is similar to and is equipped like the opposite side wall, which it is not deemed necessary to illustrate.

13 indicates the lid, which preferably has the flat upper side and is designed, when closed, to lie in the plane of the top 0 of the cabinet, and D indicates the swinging shelf, which is designed to support the type-writer.

To the inner side of each of the side walls A and arranged about the illustrated proportional height and distance from the forward edges of said walls is a metal bar or strap E, which is approximately horizontal and is provided adjacent to its ends with transverse apertures a I). (See Fig. 3.) In the outer aperture a of this bar or strap E is journaled a trunnion c of a swinging bracket F, and in the inner aperture 1) is journaled a trunnion d of a lever G, the said trunnions being preferabl y provided with enlarged ends, as shown,

to retain them in strap E, and having such ends arranged flush with the inner side of said strap, so as to permit of the same being set close against the cabinet-wall, as is desirable.

The bracket E, which is designed to swing with the shelf D, is connected to the under side of said shelf adjacent to its side edge by screws or other suitable means, and it preferably has its portion 6 contiguous to the shelf of the, proportional length illustrated and arranged about the proportional distance illustrated from the inner and outer ends of the shelf. Said bracket F is also reduced in width from its portion (2 to its lower end, so that when the shelf D is in a horizontal position the forward end of the portion e will rest above and in approximately the same vertical plane as the trunnion c, for a purpose hereinafter pointed out.

The lever G has a long arm f and a short arm g, the arm f being pivotally connected at its upper end to a lug h on the under side of the lid B, adjacent to the rear edge thereof, and the arm g being disposed at about the angle shown to the arm f and being pivotally connected at its end to one end of a link H, the opposite end of which is pivotally connected to the bracket F at a point adjacent to the outer end of the portion e thereof, as indicated by 2'.

"I indicates a link which is pivotally connected at one end to adepending skirt-strip j of the lid B and at its opposite end to the cabinet-wall A, and is designed to serve as a guide, in conjunction with the lever G to the lid, both in opening andclosingthe same. The said link I is, however, not essential to the operation of my improvements, but I prefor to employ it because it permits of the lid being opened and closed with less care than would otherwise be required.

The shelf D is provided at its rear edge with the upwardly-extending strip is, which is designed, with the parts in the position shown in Fig. 1, to close the space between the shelf and the strip j of the lid and thereby prevent papers and the like from falling off the shelf into the cabinet.

In virtue of the construction thus far described, when the lid is moved by the operator to the position shown in Fig. 1, the swinging shelf D will, through the medium of the lever G, link H, and bracket F, be raised and moved forwardly to the horizontal position illustrated, so as to carry the machine into close proximity to the operator sitting at the desk. It will also be observed that the leverage afforded by the lever G and the bracket F will enable the operator to move the lid and shelf to the position shown in Fig. 1 with but a minimum amount of effort, and the lever will also enable the lid to retain the shelf in its horizontal position when the machine is on said shelf without the aid of any auxiliary weight. This is due to the fact that when the shelf D is raised to its horizontal position the fulcrum-point d of thelever G and the pivot-a1 connection of said lever to the link II will rest in the same, or approximately the same, horizontal plane, and the further fact that a rearward movement must attend the downward movement of the shelf. Such rearward movement of the shelf is effectually prevented by the arrangement of the fulcrum of lever G and its pivotal connection to link H in the same horizontal plane, and in consequence the shelf cannot be lowered until the lid is raised to move the arm 9 and thereby move the pivotal connection of the lever G to the link I-I downwardly from the horizontal plane of the fulcrum-point of said lever. 7

It will be observed from the foregoing that in virtue of the construction embodied in my improved cabinet the shelf D is connected to the bracket F alone. This is highly ad-. vantageous, because-it admits of the complete mechanism being connected to the walls and lid of the cabinet and worked, to prove that the parts are properly placed and connected, prior to connecting the shelf with said mechanism, and consequently enables the mechanic to place and connect the parts more quickly and easily than would be the case were it necessary to connect the shelf with the mechanism before the same could be worked. It will also be observed that the mechanism is connected with the shelf through the medium of the bracket alone and that the link H is connected to the bracket alone. This is advantageous, because when the two lower points are fixed the upper point will always come in the same relative place to them without any further calculations.

The strap E, forming part of my improvements, ishighly advantageous, becauseit dispenses with the necessity of the cabinetmaker locating the distance between the f ulcrums of brackets F and lever G on the cabinet-walls and thereby materially facilitates the assembling of the parts.

In order to inclose the machine when not in use, and consequently exclude dust and the like therefrom, I provide the well of the cabinet with the wall or floor J, which may have the horizontal portion on and an upwardly and inwardly inclined portion 92. This lower wall or floor J extends the width of the well and to the rear wall thereof, and I provide the lid B with the strip j on its under side, which, together with the shelf D and the lid 13, forms a dust-proof inclosure for the machine. It will be observed that when the shelf is swung on its fulcrum, so as to let the machine into the well, said shelf will come in contact at its outer edge with the inner side of the strip j and its opposite edge will overlap and bear snugly on the inclined wall or portion n, so as to effect the dust-proof engagement between the parts.

Ihave specifically described the construction and shape of the bracket F and the piv-.

otal connections between the several'parts, because I prefer the embodiment of my invention herein described and shown. I do not desire,'however, to be understood as confining myself to such specific embodiment, as such changes or modifications may be made in practice as fairly fall within the scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. In a type-writer cabinet, the combination of a machine-shelf pivotally connected with the side wall of the cabinet, a lid, a lever fulcrumed at an intermediate point of its length on the side wall of the cabinet and having a long arm pivotally connected with the lid, and a link connected with the shelf and pivotally connected with the lever, in advance of the fulcrum-point thereof; the whole being so arranged that when the shelf is cabinet, the shelf secured to the bracket, the

lever fulcrumed in the wall of the cabinet at Y a point below the shelf when raised and having the long and short arms disposed at an angle to each other, the lid pivotally connected, adjacent to its rear edge to the long arm of the lever, and the link pivotally connected at one end to the short arm of the lever and at its outer end to the bracket, the whole being so arranged that when the shelf is raised to its horizontal position, the pivotal connection of the lever to the link and the fulcrum-point of said lever will rest in the same or approximately the same horizontal plane with the former in advance of the latter, substantially as specified.

3. The combination in a type-writer cabinet, of a bracket pivoted to the wall of the cabinet, the shelf secured to the bracket, the lever fulcrumed in the wall of the cabinet at a point below the shelf when raised and having the long and short arms disposed at an angle to each other, the lid pivotally connected, adjacent to its rear edge, to the long arm of the lever, the link I, pivotally connected at one end to the lid adjacent to the forward edge of the same and at its other end to the wall of the cabinet, and the link H, pivotally connected at one end to the short arm of the lever and at its opposite. end to the bracket, the whole being so arranged that when the shelf is raised to its horizontal position, the pivotal connection of the lever to the link H, and the fulcrum-point of said lever will rest in the same or approximately the same plane with the former in advance of the latter, substantially as specified.

4. In a type-writer cabinet, the combination of a bracket pivotally connected with a wall of the cabinet and having a straight edge and being increased in width from its pivotal point to said straight edge, the swinging shelf mounted upon and connected to the straight edge of the bracket and arranged above the pivotal connection thereof, the lever fulcrumed upon the wall of the cabinet at a point below the shelf when raised and having the long arm and the short arm disposed at an angle to the long arm, the lid pivotally connected adjacent to its rear edge to the long arm of the lever and the link H, pivotally connected at one end to the short arm of the lever and at its outer end to the bracket and adapted to cross said bracket when the shelf is raised, the whole being so arranged that when the shelf is raised to its horizontal position, the pivotal connection of the lever to the link H, and the fulcrum-point of said lever will rest in the same or approximately the same horizontal plane with the former in ad Vance of the latter, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MICHAEL FOLEY. \Vitnesses:

G. A. MCCREERY, S. W. LINTs. 

